Emergency foster families give children a home in Vorarlberg
Wednesday 28th October 2026 on 18:15 in
Austria
Emergency foster families in Vorarlberg provide temporary homes for children in crisis when their birth parents cannot care for them, ORF Vorarlberg reports.
Most children placed in foster care during acute crises have experienced violence between adults, parental difficulties coping with child-rearing, addiction or a parent’s mental illness, said Claudia Hinteregger-Thoma, head of the region’s foster care service.
One foster family, which has four children of its own, has taken in 24 children over the past 10 years. The father, identified only as Alexander to protect the foster children, said a child can arrive with little warning: he may leave for work in the morning and find a new child at the lunch table.
He and his wife may initially know little about the circumstances, he said. Each child has a different character and personal history, so the family needs to be flexible.
Foster mother Daniela said the whole family must agree to take part and have a strong support network. Children may bring difficult experiences or illnesses with them, she said, and everyone in the household needs to help.
Foster families must also respect the children’s birth parents, Hinteregger-Thoma said. Their role is not to present themselves as a better family, but to provide a temporary alternative for the child and their family. Birth parents remain important to the children, she said.
Children generally have regular contact with their birth parents, usually at the children’s village. Daniela said she had a good relationship with the parents of the children in her care and that each family’s situation had its own history. She said birth parents should be treated with respect rather than judged or stereotyped.
Emergency placements can last from a few days to a maximum of two years. Children may then return to their families or move to a long-term foster family. Daniela said saying goodbye can be difficult, particularly with the child currently in their care, who has been with them since shortly after birth. The family makes clear from the start that the children will eventually leave.